List of people from Oldham

This is a list of people from Oldham, in North West England. The demonym of Oldham is Oldhamer; however, this list may include people from Chadderton, Failsworth, Lees, Royton, Saddleworth, and Shaw and Crompton, all from the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname:

Table of contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z See also • References

A

• Sir Elkanah Armitage (1794–1876) – industrialist and Mayor of Manchester; born in Failsworth[1]
• Mike Atherton – broadcaster, journalist and retired cricketer for Lancashire and England; born in Failsworth[2]

B

• Vera Baird QC – Labour politician, author and barrister[3][4]
• Bobby Ball – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball; born in Boundary Park General Hospital[5][6]
• Lydia Becker – leading 19th-century suffragette, born in Chadderton's Foxdenton Hall[7]
• Hannah Beswick – woman who was so afraid of being buried alive that she insisted on her body being embalmed and kept above ground[8][9]
• Christopher Biggins – television presenter, pantomime actor and winner of 2007's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here![10]
• Scholes Birch – first-class cricketer
• Lally Bowers – actress, and next door neighbour to Dora Bryan
• Helen Bradley – 20th-century oil painter born in Lees in 1900[11]
• Benjamin Brierley – Failsworth-born weaver, poet and writer in Lancashire dialect[7]
• Louise Brown – world's first baby conceived by in vitro fertilisation; born in Oldham General Hospital[5][12]
• Dora Bryan – Parbold-born actress, best known for her role in A Taste of Honey and as Roz in Last of the Summer Wine[5]
• Will Buckley – footballer for Sunderland

C

• Tommy Cannon – one half of comedy double act Cannon and Ball[5][6]
• Ronald Castree – murderer convicted for the killing of Lesley Molseed[13][14][15]
• Laurence Chaderton – one of the original translators of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible[16]
• Brian Clarke – Oldham-born architectural artist and painter known for his work in stained glass[5][17]
• J. R. Clynes – Labour politician, Leader of the Labour Party, 1921–22[18]
• Olivia Cooke – TV and film actress known for Bates Motel, "Ouija" and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"; from Oldham[19]
• Jodie Connor – recording artist, lyricist, fashion model and goodwill ambassador for The Prince's Trust; from Shaw and Crompton[20]
• Nicholas Connor – film director, born in Oldham
• Carl Cox - record producer and DJ, born in Oldham
• Brian Cox – Chadderton-born television presenter, particle physicist, Royal Society research fellow, and professor at the University of Manchester[21][22]
• Bernard Cribbins – character actor and musical comedian[23]
• Don Cupitt - English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology
• Dan Capewell - A notable children's performer who goes by the name Lord Loverocket. Is famous for his inflatable entertainment venue "Sammy Snake" which youngsters are invited onto.

D

• Agyness Deyn – Failsworth-raised supermodel[24][25]

E

• Paul Edwards – ex-association footballer who played for Manchester United, Oldham Athletic and Stockport County[26]
• Karen Elson – Chadderton-raised supermodel and singer-songwriter[27][28][29]

F

• Kate Fenton (born 1954) – Failsworth-born novelist and former BBC radio producer
• Siobhan Finneran (born 1966) – Oldham-born television, film and theatre actress; Happy Valley and The Loch
• George Ford – Oldham-born England rugby union player
• Des Foy – Great Britain, Ireland and Oldham rugby league footballer; Director of Rugby League Ireland[30][31]
• Roy Fuller (1912–1991) – Failsworth-born writer, known mostly as a poet

G

• Ian Greaves – Shaw and Crompton-born association football player and manager; one of the Busby Babes[32][33]
• Nick Grimshaw – television presenter and DJ; raised in Oldham[34]
• Shobna Gulati – Oldham-born actress, writer and dancer[6]

H

• Terry Hall – pioneering ventriloquist and early children's television entertainer[35][36]
• Philip Gilbert Hamerton – etcher, painter and art critic; born in Crompton in 1834[37]
• Graham Harding – cricketer
• Paul Harrison – Oldham-born writer on environment and development; founder of the World Pantheist Movement[38]
• Jack Hilton (1900-1983) – British novelist, essayist, and travel writer
• John Hogan – Royton-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth forces[39]
• Prof Arthur Cyril William Hutchinson FRSE – professor of dentistry

I

• Inspiral Carpets – Madchester/indie rock band[5]

J

• Lee Jasper – race equality activist and champion of over 30 years originally from Manchester
• Suranne Jones – Chadderton-born actress who played Karen McDonald in Coronation Street[40]
• William Joyce – Brooklyn-born fascist politician and Nazi propagandist; short-term resident of Glodwick in Oldham[41]

K

• Annie Kenney – one of the first suffragettes to be imprisoned for protesting for women's suffrage[5][7]
• Anne Kirkbride – soap opera actress best known for playing Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street[23][42]
• Jack Kirkbride – cartoonist who worked for the Oldham Evening Chronicle[42]
• John Kneller - English-American professor and fifth President of Brooklyn College[43]
• Barbara Knox – soap opera actress best known for playing Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street[23]

L

• Sarah Lancashire – Oldham-born television actress[44]
• John Lees – Royton-born inventor who made a substantial improvement to machinery for carding cotton in 1772[45]
• John Lees – founder member of rock group Barclay James Harvest; born in Oldham in 1947
• Joseph Lees (1748–1824) – regional dialect poet from Glodwick; wrote Jone o Grinfilt[46][47]
• Ralf Little – television actor, best known for his roles in The Royle Family and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps[48]
• Eric Longworth – Shaw-born actor, best known for his semi-regular part in sitcom Dad's Army, as the town clerk of Walmington-on-Sea[49][50]

M

• Michelle Marsh – glamour model and page 3 girl[51]
• Matthew Maynard – former England Test cricketer[52]
• William McDougall – Chadderton-born psychologist and writer of several highly influential textbooks[53]
• Fergus Mills – member of the Wisconsin State Assembly[54]

N

• N-Trance – dance music producers[5]

O

• Kieran O'Brien – actor who gained notoriety for his role in the 2004 film 9 Songs[55]
• Mark Owen – member of boyband Take That; born and raised in Oldham[56][57]

P

• David Platt – association footballer, formerly captain of the England national football team; born in Chadderton[5][57][58][59]
• Tony Prince – British radio disc jockey and businessman

R

• Tony Radakin -senior Royal Navy officer
• Alan Rankle – artist[60]
• Jim Ratcliffe – founder and CEO of Ineos, raised in Failsworth
• Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes – Greenfield-born Labour party politician and life peer[61]
• Andy Ritchie – former Oldham Athletic player and manager[6]
• Roy Rolland – comedian and stage actor who appeared as Old Mother Riley from the 1950s to 1980s[62]
• Alan Rothwell – actor and television presenter

S

• Sahil Saeed – British Pakistani from Shaw and Crompton who was kidnapped for ransom in Pakistan in 2010[63][64][65][66]
• Phillip Schofield – Oldham-born television presenter[5][57]
• Paul Sculthorpe – England and St Helens RLFC player and captain
• Edward Sinclair – television actor, Dad's Army
• Kevin Sinfield – England and Leeds RLFC player and captain
• Nicola Stephenson – television actress[57]
• Philip Sydney Stott, 1st Baronet – Chadderton-born architect, civil engineer and surveyor of cotton mills[67]
• William Stott – impressionist painter[68]
• Eric Sykes – comedy writer and actor[69]
• Glenn Simon- Dwarf Fireman and Monopoly tycoon from the Oldham borough of Failsworth.

T

• Henry Taylor – British Olympic freestyle swimming triple gold medallist and champion[70][71][72]
• Kevin Thaw – alpinist, climber; many first and notable ascents, member of the North Face climbing team, Altitude Everest Expedition 2007
• Stephen Timms – British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament[73]
• Geoff Tootill – Chadderton-born scientist helped create the Manchester Baby in 1948, the world's first wholly electronic stored program computer[74]
• Dame Eva Turner, DBE – soprano opera singer; born in Werneth[75]
• Twisted Wheel – punk rock trio; reside in Oldham
• The Tides -- Liam Pennington's indie band, Oldham born and bred

W

• Jane Walsh – writer[76]
• Paul Walsh – Chadderton-born Chief Executive of Diageo[77]
• Sir William Walton – composer and conductor[78]
• Darren Wharton – keyboardist for rock band Thin Lizzy
• Nicola White – hockey player for England and Team GB
• Annie Whitehead – jazz trombone player[79]
• Ricky Whittle – Oldham-born model and actor[80]
• Jack Wild – Royton-born Academy Award-nominated actor, best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the 1968 musical film Oliver![81][82]
• Woolly Wolstenholme – Chadderton-born vocalist and keyboard player with progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest[83]
• Phil Woolas MP – Lincolnshire-born politician representing Oldham East and Saddleworth; lives in Lees[84]
• Arthur Worsley (1920–2001) – Failsworth-born ventriloquist; appeared regularly on British television from the 1950s to the 1970s

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Bibliography

• Allen, George (1985) [1907], Shaw Church in By-gone Days, York: Coultas & Volans
• Clendening, Logan (2005), The Romance of Medicine: Behind the Doctor, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4191-5172-9
• Hough, Peter; Randles, Jenny (1993), Mysteries of the Mersey Valley, Sigma Leisure, ISBN 978-1-85058-355-4
• Daly, J.D, Oldham From the XX Legion to the 20th Century, ISBN 978-5-00-091284-3
• Gurr, Duncan; Hunt, Julian (1998), The Cotton Mills of Oldham, Oldham Education & Leisure, ISBN 978-0-902809-46-8
• Lawson, Michael; Johnson, Mark (1990), Looking Back at Chadderton, Oldham: Oldham Leisure Services, ISBN 978-0-902809-23-9
• McPhillips, K. (1997), Oldham: The Formative Years, Neil Richardson, ISBN 978-1-85216-119-4

External links

• Famous Sons & Daughters, a page from visitoldham.co.uk